– There has never been a situation where 500 woodcocks crashed into the Palace of Culture in a year. In 2023 it was zero, in 2024 also zero – said the spokeswoman of the Polish Society for the Protection of Birds, Monika Klimowicz-Kominowska in Paulina Górska's podcast. This is a commentary on the words of a professor at the Jagiellonian University regarding the issue of deleting several species from the list of game birds, as we read in the message sent to our editorial office.
Will the Pink Palace of Culture and Science change much? Hunters and activists argue about how many birds crash into the building
For several months now, the Ministry of Climate and Environment has been trying to hold talks with hunters about regulating their activities. However, hunters are reluctant to compromise, which is why a conflict has arisen between them and the government. And yet, despite criticism from the hunting community, in September, Deputy Minister of Climate Michał Dorożała declared that seven out of thirteen species would disappear from the list of game birds. This, of course, did not please the hunters.
Their representative in the hunting reform team, criticized the draft regulation in “Rzeczpospolita”: – Every year at least 500 sunflowers crash into the Palace of Culture and Science. Painting it pink will be a much more effective way to protect birds than banning hunting, said Prof. Henryk Okarma from the Jagiellonian University. These were the words denied by the OTOP spokeswoman, who consulted the president of the Glass Traps Foundation, Dr. Ewa Zyśk-Górczyńska, about the woodcock matter.
The Foundation keeps the most reliable register in Poland of bird collisions with buildings or architectural elements. I asked her what is the number of sunflowers that have recently crashed into the Palace of Culture and she told me: zero in 2023, zero in 2024
– said Klimowicz-Kominowska.
The Ministry of the Environment attacks hunters. It will limit hunting opportunities
In August, when the bird hunting season began, 70 conservation organizations and initiatives appealed to the government to remove 12 of 13 bird species from the list of game species. Previously, some organizations called for a complete ban – a moratorium on bird hunting.
In response to our questions, the Ministry of the Environment provided:that the seven birds that will disappear from the list of game species were selected based on the recommendations of experts from the ministry, the General Directorate for Environmental Protection and the State Council for Nature Protection. The deputy minister stated that “social benefits obtained from hunting” for these bird species “are not adequate to the potential risks and losses, which are the responsibility of public authorities to take into account.”
– Pursuant to art. 1 of the Hunting Law Act, hunting is to be an element of the protection of the natural environment. Preserving these bird species as game species does not contribute to the protection of the natural environment, while removing them from the list may contribute to increasing biodiversity and protecting the natural environment – said Michał Dorożała.
The OTOP spokeswoman said in the podcast that the regulation proposed by the ministry gives hope for the first step in a larger reform. – We are happy with him. Also in this regard, it was proposed to remove all duck species from this list. Ducks are quite a problematic species when it comes to recognizing them, because especially the females of many species are very similar to each other. And it happened very often during hunting that strictly protected species were killed. In poor lighting conditions, even an experienced ornithologist can make a mistake in identifying these ducks, let alone hunters who have a split second to decide whether to shoot.
The Ministry of Climate and Environment declared that the regulation would be published by the end of this year, and from January 2025, the following four species of ducks – mallard, teal, common martin and tufted duck – as well as coot, woodcock and hazel grouse are to disappear from the list of game birds. Three species of geese will remain on the list – greylag, bean and white-fronted, wood pigeon, pheasant and partridge. Hunters have been opposing these changes for months. – I hope that the hunting reform will go far and the entire Polish Hunting Association will be thoroughly reformed – concludes Monika Klimowicz-Kominowska in “Lepszy Klimat”.